Somewhere in the back of his mind, a warning sounded. A warning he had never heard before.
It knocked against the bond with a sharp blade, threatening to break his connection with Bree. His heart ached. Tears pricked his eyes. Even in the short weeks that he’d been so close to her, he had begun to depend on that connection he had with her. She liked to close herself off to him, but never completely. She was always there, inside of him and around him. She was in his soul, and he was in hers. And it was the kind of link that he never wanted to let go.
If you heal her, the tiny voice said, it will break the bond between you. She has used a power no mortal should ever use. There must be payment in return.
Taveon recognized the voice. He had heard it in his mind before, but it had been years. He had started to think that it was gone. He’d thought he’d managed to shake it off. But now it was back, slithering into his ears like the snake it was.
It broke Taveon’s heart to let go of his connection to Bree. He doubted he would ever feel that close to anyone ever again, no matter how many centuries he might exist in this realm. But he would not let her die because of his own loneliness.
Taking a deep breath in through flared nostrils, Taveon poured all of his power into Bree’s slack form. Pain shot through his core as the bond between them snapped in half. A cut that he knew was permanent. He would never again be able to hear her voice in his mind.
Emptiness consumed him.
Chapter 28
Bree
When Bree awoke, it felt as though she had a hole in her chest. She’d been dead to the world. She hadn’t been able to hear or see or feel anything, but she knew exactly what had happened. In a burst of brilliant light, Bree had seen and heard everything. It was just a moment, a small snapshot in time, but it had been enough to fill in all of the blanks in her head.
She cracked open her eyes and stared up the Taveon. He was leaning over the bed with a grave expression on his face. The bond between them was no longer there, making her feel as if he were miles further away than he was.
“Hello, stranger,” she whispered, blinking back the tears that arose from the sorrow she felt. She no longer had that inexplicable link to Taveon’s mind, heart, and soul. She felt as though a part of her head been taken away, as if her soul had been ripped to shreds.
Taveon flicked his eyes to her face, and his entire body sighed in relief. “Thank the forest. I was scared it hadn’t worked. Without the bond...my apologies. I am sure you had no idea what’s happened. I’m afraid I have to tell you that…”
“I know.” Bree gave him a smile. “I know everything, Taveon. In those last few moments when we were linked, everything came flooding into my mind. Everything I thought I’d forgotten.”
She hoped that he understood what she meant, but he could no longer read her mind as he once had.
Taveon stiffened, and his hands tightened around the blanket spread across her body. “Everything? Does this mean you know…?”
Her heart hurt for him. He couldn’t even bring himself to say the words aloud. Not that she could blame him. If she were him, she would never want a single soul to know either.
“I heard your thoughts. I read your memories. I know that you are not fully a Dark Fae.”
Part Dark Fae, yes. But not fully. His mother had been King Midas’s wife, but his father...well, he was something else entirely. Something that Bree had no idea even existed until Taveon’s memories fluttered through her mind like pictures he had tried to burn.
“I was going to tell you, you know,” Taveon said softly, grounding his teeth together. “I did not want you to discover it that way. I wanted to look into your eyes and explain it to you.”
“So, explain it to me, Taveon. I’m all ears. Even though I have seen your memories, I would rather hear you tell it to me. In your own words. The way you wanted.”
Taveon drew in a long, shuddering breath. His grip around her hand tightened, and Bree could read his every thought even if they were no longer bonded. She knew the truth of him now, and he was still scared to share the very darkest parts of himself.
“My mother…you know about her,” Taveon began. “She was a good female. And she was loyal to King Midas. Unfortunately, he did not believe she stayed true to him. Not when she became pregnant with me, and I was not his son. But there is far more to the story than that.”
Bree nodded, squeezing his hand in comfort.
He continued, “There is another realm, though many do not know of it. Centuries and centuries ago, this knowledge was passed on from mother to daughter and father to son, but somewhere along the way, we let ourselves forget it. This realm may be called Underworld, but there is another realm far darker than ours. It is the Realm of the Dead, and it is ruled by far worse creatures than those found here. Demonic gods. Males and females full of violence and terror. And death.”
Bree shivered at his words, and she couldn’t help but feel a spark of terror in her gut. The fae in the Light Fae realm had always spoken of Underworld in hushed tones of fear. They said the Dark Fae were chaotic and evil, and while some were that way, Bree had realized that the Light Fae had been wrong.
But maybe they never had been wrong. Not truly. Maybe they had always been talking about another realm, one far worse than this one.
“The gates between our realm and their realm are shut, but it has not always been that way. We are safe from them now, as are the Light Fae, and as are the humans. Somehow though, one got through. One of the demonic gods.”
Taveon’s voice broke off, and Bree’s heart hurt for him. She know what he would say next. She wished she could take that burden from him. But now that he had begun speaking, it was as if the dam had broken within him, and the words were spilling out from his soul. He needed to tell his story now.
“He found my mother, the wife of the Dark Fae’s King. And then he raped her.” Taveon’s grip tightened around her hand, and he was clinging on to her so tightly that it almost hurt. But she just let him hold her, knowing that he needed to feel something solid underneath his fingertips. “I am his offspring. I am part Dark Fae, but I am also part demonic god. And I’ve never been able to ask him why he did this. As soon as he got what he wanted, he was gone and no one from the Realm of the Dead has been seen since. Unless you count me.”
“Of course I don’t count you, Taveon,” Bree said as gently as she could. “You may be part demonic god, but your soul and your heart is all fae. You are a good male, Taveon. There is nothing evil about you. You are kind, you’re generous, and you are brave. You care about this realm, and you care about the humans, even though none of the other Dark Fae could give a damn.”
The grip on her hand loosened, and Taveon finally met her eyes. His own were full of unshed tears and pain that echoed years of torment. This was a burden he had carried around with him all this time, like a noose slid tightly around his neck. She wished there was something she could say or do to make that pain go away, but all she could do was accept him for exactly who he was. Her king. Her Taveon.
Taveon wanted to insist that she rest, but Bree was back on her feet within hours. There was an army of outposters outside of their gates, probably readying themselves to attack at any moment. The other court members had started to wake up, and they needed to gather everyone together in the Great Hall and tell them exactly what was coming. They needed to plan. They needed soldiers. And they needed to gather as many weapons as they could.
Rafe found her exiting Taveon’s chambers, and his arms wrapped around her so tight that her breath was knocked from her lungs. Relief poured through her, and she snaked her arms around his back, squeezing him just as tightly as he squeezed her.
He pulled back, searched her face with those silver eyes of his, and pressed her hair back away from her face. His lips hungrily found hers, rough and soft at the same time. When he pulled back, Bree was left gasping for more, and a delicious heat rolled through her stomach.
“I really, really wish a
n army of angry outposters were not two seconds away from attacking this castle,” Bree whispered, leaning into him and breathing him in.
“Oh, Bree, you have no idea. I feel as if I have not seen you for years. I cannot even explain it. It was if I was awake, alive inside of the darkness. But I could not hear a thing. I could not see a thing. The only image I had was your face, your smile, and those eyes of yours. It was the only thing that kept me going and knowing that everything would turn out okay.”
His words warmed Bree from her head all the way down to her toes. He was here before her now, and there was something she yearned to whisper into his ears. Why, oh why, did they have to prepare for a battle right now? Why could she not take him back to her room and show him exactly everything she felt inside of her heart?
“Soon,” she whispered.
He gave a nod. “If we survive this.”
“When,” Bree insisted. “Not if.”
Every single fae who had shown for Taveon’s celebration had gathered in the Great Hall for the meeting about the upcoming battle. Murmurs, angry ones, rippled through the crowd like choppy waves at sea. Every single fae who had fallen was now alive and well and awake. But they were angry. The outposters had attacked them in their own home, they had targeted their new King, and their vengeance was in desperate need of release.
Dagen stood on the stage beside Taveon with Conlan, Branok, and Ethne just behind them. Their faces were solemn, but their eyes were full of fire. They were just as angry as the crowd before them.
“Thank you all for gathering here, even after the confusion of this morning. I know some of you have questions.” Taveon raised his voice to be heard over the entire crowd, and the murmurs fell to silence. With an outward force threatening their home, all of the inner turmoil whispered away into nothing. They were now loyal to their King, no matter whose son he wasn’t.
One small, young male at the front of the crowd stood from his seat. “May I speak, my King?”
Taveon pursed his lips and gave a nod. “Of course. Every single member of my Court has a voice, including you.”
“How will we beat them?” he asked. “What if they just try to curse all of us again?”
“We will have the element of surprise on our side,” Taveon said with a nod. “They have no way of knowing that we are all un-cursed inside of this castle. They will be expecting nothing more than Eurig and Bree here. That will give us a chance to surround them before they can get inside our walls.”
Bree raised her eyebrows. This was certainly not what she had expected. And by the sound of the murmuring voices, the rest of the Court had not expected it either. The castle was so heavily fortified, the perfect defensive system against potential invaders. The smart thing to do would be to hunker down inside, letting the soldiers take charge of the walls.
Taveon raised his hands in the air and gave the court a long serious look. They fell silent, listening to their King for once. “I understand your confusion and your wariness. And, in any other situation, I would agree. Our strength is in our walls. Our castle can protect us. But we have a chance here to take them out before they try to get inside and realize that none of us are cursed at all. They do not know we are in here. And we will use that to our advantage.”
Across the room, Taveon turned his eyes her way, and he motioned for her to join him on the stage. Bree’s face warmed as she stood from her seat, her feet moving as if she was in a trance. Every eye in the great hall was on her, and more murmurs filled the air. Bree had no idea what Taveon would ask of her, but she knew she would do it no matter what.
She joined him on the stage, and he placed a solid hand on her shoulder. “You all know my champion, Bree. Your freedom from the curse is all thanks to her. She found a way to undo it, and she may just be our saving grace in this fight.” Her King turned toward her, his eyes solemn and his lips pressed tightly together. Her heart clenched tight. She wished that she could feel his emotions, just as she used to do. He felt so far away from her now, almost like a stranger. Almost like a King too far above everyone to truly know him.
But she did know him. Better than anyone else. And she trusted him not only with her body but with her heart.
“Bree, there is one last thing that I need for you to do.” His eyes gazed deeply into hers, and she swore she could almost feel the whisper of his mind against hers. “We need you and Eurig to create a distraction. Can you do that for us?”
It was a question that she did not need to answer because he knew what she would say. That was why he had brought her up before all of his Court without warning her. She would say yes. She would have volunteered even if he hadn’t asked her. Because even though she was a stranger, a foreigner to these lands...somehow, over the past few months, this Court had become her home.
Chapter 29
Bree
Eurig and Bree crept out through the sewers. It had been the outposter’s idea, and she’d wanted to smack him as soon as the words whispered from his lips. The tunnels stunk to high heaven, and she knew the smell would cling to her skin long after they’d exited into the fresh air.
When they reached the small hole in the side of the castle walls, they ducked down and pressed their backs against the stone that encircled the entire castle. In the distance, Bree could see the approaching army. There were hundreds of them, just like Eurig had warned. And they were riding straight toward the castle wall with no abandon. Because Taveon had also been right. They had no idea they would come up against any kind of force. They thought they would be able to ride straight inside and take the castle as their own.
“Too bad we have to be the bait instead of taking up our own weapons against them,” Bree muttered she glared at the fae who were responsible for everything that happened. “I’d like to show them exactly where they can shove it.”
Eurig chuckled. “I’m sure that you’ll get plenty of chances to harass the Queen when she is behind bars in Taveon’s dungeons.”
That was another thing that Taveon had insisted upon. He wanted the Queen taken alive, and he wanted no shots fired her way. She was to be his prisoner, just like Eurig had been hers for so many years. It was the best and only way to keep the peace between his Court and the outposters when all of this was over. Otherwise, another army of angry outposters might charge their way.
“It’s almost time,” Eurig said, shifting his body closer to Bree. The scent of him enveloped her like a warm blanket. Mint and cinnamon and the sea. She leaned toward him and wrapped her arms around his neck, tipping back her head to stare into his angular face. Emotions battled inside of her chest. Fear and anger at the outposters clashed with the affection she felt toward this male.
“You ready?” Bree asked, heart practically in her throat.
Eurig gave a nod, they clasped hands, and then they pressed their foreheads together. With a deep collective breath, they both turned toward the charging fae.
A heavy hand slammed down hard on Bree’s shoulder, and sharp fingernails dug into her skin. The hand yanked her back, and then pushed her to the ground where all of the breath was knocked from her lungs.
“Not so fast, Redcap girl.” A tall, thin fae stood over her, sneering down at Bree while her dark reddish hair whipped around her sunken face. “Nor you, Eurig, though I can hardly believe my eyes. You’re a traitor.”
“I was banished,” Eurig said through clenched teeth. “For having the King’s blood running through my veins. That hardly makes me a traitor.”
“No matter,” another fae said. This one was male, and he had his arms wrapped tight around Eurig’s chest. And, somehow, he was much larger than her outposter male. His grip was strong and sure, and Eurig wasn’t going anywhere.
“Let us go,” Bree said, though she knew it was useless. These were outposters, and they had caught them off guard. Bree stared helplessly at the approaching army. She and Eurig needed to be storming straight at them right now, or else they wouldn’t be distracted enough for Taveon’s soldiers to ca
tch them unaware.
“The Queen will decide what to do with you,” the female said, yanking Bree hard from the ground and shoving her forward.
They met the approaching army in the middle of the field. Bree’s jaws hurt from how hard she ground them together, and her heart felt like a jackhammer in her chest. Eurig had gone silent while the fae shoved him along, and now more than ever, she wished she could read his thoughts. They needed to figure out a way to get out of this. They needed to find a way to turn this right back onto the outposters themselves.
The Queen rode at the front of her army, jet black hair trailing behind her. Her eyes were pinched and her jawline sharp, and there was something horribly unnerving about the female. She was tall and lithe like Bree’s captor. Very unlike Eurig and most of the soldiers that surrounded their Queen.
She slowed her horse and held up her hand. The entire army shuddered to a stop in unison. Bree couldn’t help but shiver.
The Queen elegantly slid off her horse, and her dainty feet hit the ground. She eyed Bree from head to toe, no emotions flickering in her dark eyes. “So, this is the King’s champion. She is much plainer than I expected.”
Bree ground her teeth together even harder, but she refused to rise to the Queen’s bait. She would not say a word, no matter how hard the Queen tried to needle her.
The female’s dark eyes flicked to Eurig, and a strange emotion flashed within the depths of them. It had been the only sign that she was not a robot, as far as Bree could tell.
“Eurig.” She let out a sigh and shook her head. “Your father would be very disappointed if he knew you had joined the enemy.”
Eurig spat on the ground by her feet. “I think he’d be a hell of a lot more likely to cheer me on. Or have you already forgotten that you murdered him?”
A Heart of Midnight (Dark Fae Academy Book 2) Page 17
